Corynebacterium glutamicum

Technical Data

Type of microorganism	Bacterium
Microorganism name	Corynebacterium glutamicum
Temperature range	30-33°C (J. Liu et al., 2022)
pH range	pH 7-8 (Duan et al., 2023)
Carbon and nitrogen source	Soy peptone, glucose, yeast extract (Park et al., 2024) Acetate, (NH4)2SO4 (Kiefer et al., 2021)
Growth rate (µ)	Maximal growth rate of 0.47/hour (Kiefer et al., 2021)
Companies (product)	CJ Bio (Prosin & Protide) (Ritala et al., 2017)
Wild-type or GMO	Wild-type
Feedstock case studies (suitable substrates)	Soy peptone (Park et al., 2024) Cellulose (Peterson et al., 2025) Corn straw hydrolysate, casasava bagasse, rice straw, wheat bran (B. Zhang et al., 2020)
% SCP (w/w percentage of protein in dried biomass)	60.9% (Park et al., 2024) 57.9% (Peterson et al., 2025)
cell biomass dry weight (CDW) = biomass yield? (g/L or g/g?) (weight of biomass/total weight or volume)	0.767% (w/v) on soy peptone on pilot scale (Park et al., 2024) 16% (w/w) on cellulose on lab scale in bioreactor (Peterson et al., 2025) 8.02% (w/v), corresponding with 35% (w/w) on acetate on lab scale in bioreactor (Kiefer et al., 2021)
Protein content in final product	70.03% for Prosin & 57.53% for Protide (Zhang et al., 2013)
Protein titer (g/L or g/g?) grams of protein / total weight or volume	0.467% (w/v) on soy peptone on pilot scale (Park et al., 2024) 9.26% (w/w) (own calculation based on Peterson et al., (2025)). Done on lab scale in bioreactor on cellulose
Productivity (g/Lh)	2.75 on acetate on lab scale in bioreactor (Kiefer et al., 2021)
Protein yield on C-source (% w/w)	9% (w/w) on cellulose on lab scale in bioreactor (Peterson et al., 2025)
Scale	Pilot scale (Park et al., 2024)
Downstream purification processing complexity	Centrifugation & washing followed by heat treatment (Park et al., 2024)
Nucleic acid content	Not specifially stated, but likely around 10% as most bacteria
Techno-functional and/or nutritional properties (e.g. meat-like texture, amino acid profile, digestibility)	High protein content (all amino acids present). All amino acids present in a higher amount than the FAO reccomendations. Low amount of saturated fatty acids, no cholesterol. (Park et al., 2024) Has a lower metabolizible energy content than fish feed, but in pigs supplementation of feed with Corynebacterium glutamicum performs similar to control diets (Zhang et al., 2013) incomplete digestibility by flathead grey mullet probably due to the cell wall composition (Bertini et al., 2023)
Target application (Food, feed, other)	Feed sector
Advantages	Rich in proteins, all amino acids present.
Challenges (Key limitations, risk factors)	No regulatory framework. Some problems observed with degestibility in fish (Bertini et al., 2023)
Regulatory status in Europe	Not allowed as SCP in feed or food
Regulatory status in other parts of the world	Not allowed as SCP in feed or food in the US, Canada or Singapore Allowed in China? CJ Bio used in scientific papers from China (Zhang et al., 2013)
Extra/remark
Publications/references	Park, S., Kim, T., Lee, S., Lee, S., & Kim, P. (2024). Nutritional properties of pilot-scale manufactured single-cell proteins from a Corynebacterium glutamicum. CyTA - Journal of Food, 22(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/19476337.2024.2410859 Peterson, E. C., Hermansen, C., Yong, A., Siao, R., Chua, G. G., Ho, S., Busran, C. T., Teo, M., Thong, A., Weingarten, M., & Lindley, N. (2025). Two-Stage Bioconversion of Cellulose to Single-Cell Protein and Oil via a Cellulolytic Consortium. Fermentation, 11(2), 72. https://doi.org/10.3390/fermentation11020072 Kiefer, D., Merkel, M., Lilge, L., Hausmann, R., & Henkel, M. (2021). High cell density cultivation of Corynebacterium glutamicum on bio-based lignocellulosic acetate using pH-coupled online feeding control. Bioresource Technology, 340, 125666. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2021.125666 Liu, J., Xu, J., Rao, Z., & Zhang, W. (2022). Industrial production of L-lysine in Corynebacterium glutamicum: Progress and prospects. Microbiological Research, 262, 127101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.micres.2022.127101 Duan, M., Chen, S., Liu, X., Liu, J., & Zhu, D. (2023). The Application of Corynebacterium glutamicum in l-Threonine Biosynthesis. Fermentation, 9(9), 822. https://doi.org/10.3390/fermentation9090822 Ritala, A., Häkkinen, S. T., Toivari, M., & Wiebe, M. G. (2017). Single Cell Protein—State-of-the-Art, Industrial Landscape and Patents 2001–2016. Frontiers in Microbiology, 8. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2017.02009 Bertini, A., Natale, S., Gisbert, E., Andrée, K. B., Concu, D., Dondi, F., De Cesare, A., Indio, V., Gatta, P. P., Bonaldo, A., & Parma, L. (2023). Exploring the application of Corynebacterium glutamicum single cell protein in the diet of flathead grey mullet (Mugil cephalus): effects on growth performance, digestive enzymes activity and gut microbiota. Frontiers in Marine Science, 10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1172505 Zhang, H. Y., Piao, X. S., Li, P., Yi, J. Q., Zhang, Q., Li, Q. Y., Liu, J. D., & Wang, G. Q. (2013). Effects of Single Cell Protein Replacing Fish Meal in Diet on Growth Performance, Nutrient Digestibility and Intestinal Morphology in Weaned Pigs. Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences, 26(9), 1320–1328. https://doi.org/10.5713/ajas.2013.13200 Zhang, B., Jiang, Y., Li, Z., Wang, F., & Wu, X. (2020). Recent Progress on Chemical Production From Non-food Renewable Feedstocks Using Corynebacterium glutamicum. Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, 8. https://doi.org/10.3389/fbioe.2020.606047